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| Mesalina cryptica Šmíd, Velenská, Pola, Tamar, Busais, Shobrak, Almutairi, Salim, Alsubaie, R. H. M. AlGethami, A. R. AlGethami, Alanazi, Alshammari, Egan, Ramalho, Olson, Smithson, Chirio, Burger, van Huyssteen, Petford & Carranza, 2025 |
Abstract
Background: The lacertid genus Mesalina has been the subject of several phylogenetic and biogeographic studies as well as taxonomic revisions within the last decade. The genus is partitioned into seven main clades, some of which represent species complexes of morphologically very similar species. The Mesalina guttulata species complex is one such case. This complex currently comprises four described species that occur through Arabia and northern Africa, however, the presence of a cryptic species in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan was pointed out recently. For this study, we collected new material of the various species of the M. guttulata complex, including the undescribed lineage from across Saudi Arabia. We carried out multilocus phylogenetic analyses using three mitochondrial and three nuclear markers and analysis of morphological data to verify whether the undescribed lineage deserves a species rank.
Results: The results show that the lineage is clearly genetically separated from the other species of the complex and shows morphological differentiation from the other species. Therefore, we describe it herein as a new species, Mesalina cryptica sp. nov.
Conclusions: We contribute to the taxonomy of Arabian lacertid lizards by describing a new species distributed in central Saudi Arabia, with isolated populations occurring in Kuwait and Jordan. Despite its large range, the species is genetically and morphologically homogeneous. The gap in its distribution between the Jordan and Saudi Arabia populations is ascribable to the paucity of sampling along the Saudi/Iraqi border.
Keywords: Lizards, Mesopotamia, Middle East, Sauria, Squamates, Reptiles, Taxonomy
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| A) Holotype (NMP6V 76937) of Mesalina cryptica sp. nov. in life (photo by Al Faqih Ali Salim). B) The species type locality about 7 km N of Hazlulah, west of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (24.561°N, 46.307°E), with the abrupt vertical cliffs of the Tuwaiq Escarpment visible in the background (photo by Jiří Šmíd) |
Lacertidae Oppel, 1811
Mesalina Gray, 1838
Mesalina cryptica sp. nov.
English name: Arabian small-spotted lizard
Diagnosis: A medium-sized species of Mesalina, member of the M. guttulata species complex with the following combination of morphological characters: 1) SVL up to 47 mm in both sexes (the character is not sexually dimorphic; adult males: 43.5–47.0 mm, adult females: 41.8–46.1 mm); 2) well-developed occipital scale in contact with the interparietal; 3) lower eyelid with a transparent window made up of two large scales; 4) 8–10 supralabials; 5) four upper labials in front of the subocular; 6) 9–12 plates in collar; 7) 21–29 gulars; 8) ventral plates in eight straight longitudinal rows; 9) 36–48 dorsal scales across midbody; 10) 24–29 femoral pores in males, 25–33 in females (the character is not sexually dimorphic); 11) 19–22 lamellae under 4th toe; 12) dorsal coloration of adults beige to dark brown, with black-and-white ocelli (the white dots are flanked but not completely surrounded by black specks); the ocelli are arranged in irregular longitudinal and transverse rows; 13) adult males with orange flanks; 14) juveniles sometimes with pale dorsolateral stripes that start at the level of the eye and extend all the way down on the tail; 15) juveniles with a bluish tail.
Etymology: The species epithet “cryptica” is derived from the Latin word for “concealed” or “hidden”, and refers to that the species had been overlooked for its morphological similarity with the other species of the M. guttulata complex, which were considered conspecific prior to the taxonomic revision by Sindaco, et al. [2018].
Jiří Šmíd, Doubravka Velenská, Lukáš Pola, Karin Tamar, Salem Busais, Mohammed Shobrak, Mohammed Almutairi, Al Faqih Ali Salim, Saad Dasman Alsubaie, Raed Hamoud M. AlGethami, Abdulaziz Raqi AlGethami, Abdulkarim Saleh K Alanazi, Ahmed Mohajja Alshammari, Damien M. Egan, Ricardo O. Ramalho, David Olson, Josh Smithson, Laurent Chirio, Marius Burger, Ryan van Huyssteen, Melissa A. Petford and Salvador Carranza. 2025. Phylogeny and Systematics of Arabian lacertids from the Mesalina guttulata species complex (Squamata, Lacertidae), with the Description of A New Species. BMC Zoology. 10: 11. DOI: doi.org/10.1186/s40850-025-00233-3 [01 July 2025]
